V8 Family Wagon Aussie Style - VF2 Calais V
Discussion
PomBstard said:
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Well, delightfully little, is the answer. It’s been slogging away on the usual urban bash, and has just taken me and PBJnr2 on a 2,300km round trip to Brisbane for the culmination of the National Primary Schools Athletics Champs. It was a bloody long way to go for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, but she came back with 3 golds, and 2 championship records, so kinda worth it!
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Just saw this - that's some achievement! How much does she have to train? I used to scrape into state finals in those events at that age... Well, delightfully little, is the answer. It’s been slogging away on the usual urban bash, and has just taken me and PBJnr2 on a 2,300km round trip to Brisbane for the culmination of the National Primary Schools Athletics Champs. It was a bloody long way to go for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, but she came back with 3 golds, and 2 championship records, so kinda worth it!
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braddo said:
PomBstard said:
...
Well, delightfully little, is the answer. It’s been slogging away on the usual urban bash, and has just taken me and PBJnr2 on a 2,300km round trip to Brisbane for the culmination of the National Primary Schools Athletics Champs. It was a bloody long way to go for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, but she came back with 3 golds, and 2 championship records, so kinda worth it!
...
Just saw this - that's some achievement! How much does she have to train? I used to scrape into state finals in those events at that age... Well, delightfully little, is the answer. It’s been slogging away on the usual urban bash, and has just taken me and PBJnr2 on a 2,300km round trip to Brisbane for the culmination of the National Primary Schools Athletics Champs. It was a bloody long way to go for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, but she came back with 3 golds, and 2 championship records, so kinda worth it!
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From our last trip to the Gold Coast she came back as national champion for 12/13Y Girls MC 50BR, 100BR and 50BK, plus silver in the 100BK and 50FY to give some idea of her level of training.
I used to be a half decent service mechanic. Would do all the work on my own cars and service my friends’ too. Time and space now mean I don’t get to do too much but there are some jobs I just have to do - y’know the simple things, like change a light bulb…
Last night this happened…
Offside dipped beam bulb blown. How hard could it be, esp after the huge phaff of changing HIDs on the Sube which meant removing the whole front bumper…
…and each headlight unit to get to the bulbs…
But it was still a straightforward job, albeit more phaff than it should be.
So, the Holden. This shows how close to the wheel arch the back of the light units would be…
And this shows how accessible it is from under the bonnet…
The owner’s handbook says to pull out the filler spout and cover the resulting hole into the cooling system and go in that way, but I’m 6’2” and not blessed with ET’s hands, so not really a go. From the side you can see the dust cover for the main beam, but the dipped is totally out of sight.
The internet tells of going through the wheel arch which, bearing in mind the photo further up, makes sort of sense as it’s really close. So that’s the way I went.
Undo these 5 screws - there’s one just out of sight in front of the the wheel…
…pull back the arch liner…
And get stuck in!
Except, it’s still totally blind and the liner doesn’t really pull away far enough for me to get my arm in properly.
The other option is to take the wheel off and remove the liner completely but I figure there’s a halfway point before that. So I simply jack the body up a bit, leaving the tyre just on the ground.
It works just enough for me to get the cover off, and pull the connector - but it’s all only just, with fingertips…
Then it’s unclip the bulb and remove. And in the tradition of the best Haynes manuals, fitting is the reverse process. Including being sight unseen.
It was an enormous patience-testing phaff. The bulbs are halogens, so no touching the glass. The clip and connector kept getting in the way of the bulb getting into the fitting. And the arch liner kept digging into my arm.
But, yay…
Anyway, done now, and know for next time. And yes, I did get a bulb for the near side as that’ll likely go soon too but as these can be replaced individually, rather than requiring the unit out as per the Sube, I’ll wait.
Last night this happened…
Offside dipped beam bulb blown. How hard could it be, esp after the huge phaff of changing HIDs on the Sube which meant removing the whole front bumper…
…and each headlight unit to get to the bulbs…
But it was still a straightforward job, albeit more phaff than it should be.
So, the Holden. This shows how close to the wheel arch the back of the light units would be…
And this shows how accessible it is from under the bonnet…
The owner’s handbook says to pull out the filler spout and cover the resulting hole into the cooling system and go in that way, but I’m 6’2” and not blessed with ET’s hands, so not really a go. From the side you can see the dust cover for the main beam, but the dipped is totally out of sight.
The internet tells of going through the wheel arch which, bearing in mind the photo further up, makes sort of sense as it’s really close. So that’s the way I went.
Undo these 5 screws - there’s one just out of sight in front of the the wheel…
…pull back the arch liner…
And get stuck in!
Except, it’s still totally blind and the liner doesn’t really pull away far enough for me to get my arm in properly.
The other option is to take the wheel off and remove the liner completely but I figure there’s a halfway point before that. So I simply jack the body up a bit, leaving the tyre just on the ground.
It works just enough for me to get the cover off, and pull the connector - but it’s all only just, with fingertips…
Then it’s unclip the bulb and remove. And in the tradition of the best Haynes manuals, fitting is the reverse process. Including being sight unseen.
It was an enormous patience-testing phaff. The bulbs are halogens, so no touching the glass. The clip and connector kept getting in the way of the bulb getting into the fitting. And the arch liner kept digging into my arm.
But, yay…
Anyway, done now, and know for next time. And yes, I did get a bulb for the near side as that’ll likely go soon too but as these can be replaced individually, rather than requiring the unit out as per the Sube, I’ll wait.
Yeah, I might try the ‘remove coolant top-up’ route next time but it really didn’t look like ol’ sausage fingers was gonna win that way!
And the service cost just showed, once more, the astonishing value these cars really are. What other large wagon with a 400+bhp V8 can be maintained for that cost? I’ve said before that the interiors might not be the most inspiring or best built but the basic chassis package and space available inside really is very good and shows where the development money was spent.
Anyway, whilst I had the bonnet up I took another pic of the fun bit…
Even looking at the engine bay you’d struggle to guess what it can do
And the service cost just showed, once more, the astonishing value these cars really are. What other large wagon with a 400+bhp V8 can be maintained for that cost? I’ve said before that the interiors might not be the most inspiring or best built but the basic chassis package and space available inside really is very good and shows where the development money was spent.
Anyway, whilst I had the bonnet up I took another pic of the fun bit…
Even looking at the engine bay you’d struggle to guess what it can do
Just updating this thread as the car is now 7 years old - build date is July 2016. We’ve got 144,000kms (close to 90,000mi) showing and I’ll keep it for a few more yet.
Also managed to get the weeping engine mount changed - all up was $500, inc genuine part.
I think the total of non-service parts needed in the just-under-3yrs I’ve had the car are:
Engine mount - $500
Water pump - $400
Door actuator - $300
Top mounts - $300
Radiator - $400 (I think - was part of initial service when I bought it)
There will be a bit of spending later this year when the rear shocks and arb are replaced, and we’ll probably check all the other suspension components whilst it’s up in the air and stuff is being changed.
But for today, call it $2,000 which is about £1,050. I think that’s OK. Obvs all the Lexus owners are laughing, but I reckon there are some big, V8-shaped horror stories out the for non-service works…
Also managed to get the weeping engine mount changed - all up was $500, inc genuine part.
I think the total of non-service parts needed in the just-under-3yrs I’ve had the car are:
Engine mount - $500
Water pump - $400
Door actuator - $300
Top mounts - $300
Radiator - $400 (I think - was part of initial service when I bought it)
There will be a bit of spending later this year when the rear shocks and arb are replaced, and we’ll probably check all the other suspension components whilst it’s up in the air and stuff is being changed.
But for today, call it $2,000 which is about £1,050. I think that’s OK. Obvs all the Lexus owners are laughing, but I reckon there are some big, V8-shaped horror stories out the for non-service works…
trails said:
None of that is unreasonable...have you kept track of fuel costs 
Hmmm, er, well, um, no not really…But a guesstimate over the last 32 months would be something like…
38,000km @ 14l/100km (20mpg - it does around 14-15mpg urban but more like 29-30mpg on the freeway, and we do a few big trips a year)
Well, that’s 5320 litres. Prices have been all over the place for the last three years, and I tend to run it on 98RON, usually BP Ultimate or Shell V Power - but let’s go with $2/litre cos that’s easy and in the ballpark.
So, fuel has been $10,640, which is around £6,000. That works out to be about $335/month, call it $80/week, which is around £45/wk. I’ll let others slice that how it best works for them, but I don’t think that’s too unreasonable.
All instead of depreciation, which over the same period had been approx zero, cos V8 Holden
trails said:
I think that is eminently reasonable, and probably a bit of a positive surprise for you too 
Yep!However, I thought I’d written something similar before - about a year ago I suggested it was more like 17mpg overall and came out with a cost a few $000 more. But, hey-ho, not measuring so can’t be wrong
PomBstard said:
Yep!
However, I thought I’d written something similar before - about a year ago I suggested it was more like 17mpg overall and came out with a cost a few $000 more. But, hey-ho, not measuring so can’t be wrong
Let's face it, everytime you jump in the 'family' wagon and that v8 fires up you are having a bloody good day However, I thought I’d written something similar before - about a year ago I suggested it was more like 17mpg overall and came out with a cost a few $000 more. But, hey-ho, not measuring so can’t be wrong
Just had it serviced, and Jeez, it was a big ‘un!
As well as the usual oil and filters thing ($285 parts and labour) I needed new discs and pads at the front ($360), and had new rear Bilstein shocks with thicker (22mm) arb fitted at the rear (a whopping $1280).
By the time we’ve added GST to that lot it was just over $2100 all up. By Gum, that’s over one thousand of your Imperial British Pounds! And all I’ve got to show for it are new shocks, arb, discs and pads, and a service…
And on top of that, I’ll need new shocks at the front at the next service, so that will likely be about $1000, which might well be more than £500!
I’m guessing there are some slightly more horrific costs associated with some of the other big, fast wagons out there
Seriously, I reckon for that work on a big V8 wagon, I’ve not been fleeced for the work.
As well as the usual oil and filters thing ($285 parts and labour) I needed new discs and pads at the front ($360), and had new rear Bilstein shocks with thicker (22mm) arb fitted at the rear (a whopping $1280).
By the time we’ve added GST to that lot it was just over $2100 all up. By Gum, that’s over one thousand of your Imperial British Pounds! And all I’ve got to show for it are new shocks, arb, discs and pads, and a service…
And on top of that, I’ll need new shocks at the front at the next service, so that will likely be about $1000, which might well be more than £500!
I’m guessing there are some slightly more horrific costs associated with some of the other big, fast wagons out there
Seriously, I reckon for that work on a big V8 wagon, I’ve not been fleeced for the work.
PomBstard said:
Just had it serviced, and Jeez, it was a big ‘un!
As well as the usual oil and filters thing ($285 parts and labour) I needed new discs and pads at the front ($360), and had new rear Bilstein shocks with thicker (22mm) arb fitted at the rear (a whopping $1280).
By the time we’ve added GST to that lot it was just over $2100 all up. By Gum, that’s over one thousand of your Imperial British Pounds! And all I’ve got to show for it are new shocks, arb, discs and pads, and a service…
And on top of that, I’ll need new shocks at the front at the next service, so that will likely be about $1000, which might well be more than £500!
I’m guessing there are some slightly more horrific costs associated with some of the other big, fast wagons out there
Seriously, I reckon for that work on a big V8 wagon, I’ve not been fleeced for the work.
Why did they fit a new ARB at a service?As well as the usual oil and filters thing ($285 parts and labour) I needed new discs and pads at the front ($360), and had new rear Bilstein shocks with thicker (22mm) arb fitted at the rear (a whopping $1280).
By the time we’ve added GST to that lot it was just over $2100 all up. By Gum, that’s over one thousand of your Imperial British Pounds! And all I’ve got to show for it are new shocks, arb, discs and pads, and a service…
And on top of that, I’ll need new shocks at the front at the next service, so that will likely be about $1000, which might well be more than £500!
I’m guessing there are some slightly more horrific costs associated with some of the other big, fast wagons out there
Seriously, I reckon for that work on a big V8 wagon, I’ve not been fleeced for the work.
Needed new rear shocks so whilst there uprated the ARB to stop it feeling quite so wobbly at the back. Seems to have done the trick - ride is a little firmer but still comfy.
The previous owner was an antique furniture dealer so I reckon the boot got a workout, and we’ve been equally unforgiving with loading it up for trips away.
The previous owner was an antique furniture dealer so I reckon the boot got a workout, and we’ve been equally unforgiving with loading it up for trips away.
A couple of days and 200km later, the verdict on the new shocks is a resounding “Yay!” The ride is a little firmer but is still plush and replacing the shocks has shown just how noisy the old ones were.
The rear does feel more planted in sweeping bends but the car also feels less tail-happy in the dry. The wet is still all sorts of fun as I found out last night
A couple of photos of shock and link…
Before…
After…
The rear does feel more planted in sweeping bends but the car also feels less tail-happy in the dry. The wet is still all sorts of fun as I found out last night
A couple of photos of shock and link…
Before…
After…
Not sure how, but in the 18 days since it was serviced I’ve managed to add just over 1000km to the odometer without actually going anywhere….
Anyway, made use today of a nifty feature built into all VE/VF wagons. Having parked close to the back of my mate’s Defender I then needed to access the boot - there’s about 10 inches or so between the cars here
Which turns out to be plenty in order to open the tailgate without touching the other car…
Cos hinges are set back into the roofline…
Also, getting ready for another road trip, so second bike rack now on the roof…
Will prob rack up another 3000km before the end of the year. I don’t think the altered aerodynamics will change the fuel consumption too much
Anyway, made use today of a nifty feature built into all VE/VF wagons. Having parked close to the back of my mate’s Defender I then needed to access the boot - there’s about 10 inches or so between the cars here
Which turns out to be plenty in order to open the tailgate without touching the other car…
Cos hinges are set back into the roofline…
Also, getting ready for another road trip, so second bike rack now on the roof…
Will prob rack up another 3000km before the end of the year. I don’t think the altered aerodynamics will change the fuel consumption too much
k knows how much super unleaded…
Took a road trip down to the Snowy Mountains, managed about 1300km for the trip this time, so not really a Big One. Still took lots of stuff though…
Took MrsPB’s i30 too - there’s only so much you can fit in a wagon, even one this size, and being a family of five means we can find a lot of stuff to take. There are two bikes in the boot as well as the two on the roof, as well as all our clobber. MrsPB and Jnrs 1&2 went in the Hyundai - it was just easier that way!
Stopped off for a pie next to the Big Merino at Goulburn - Pie with a View (of a big ol’ sheep)…
Stayed at a great place almost at Thredbo…
View from the back doors…
Car was of course made for the trip - 500km each way on motorway and A road. But not as capable on the A & B roads as the Subaru we used a few years ago for the same trip. That car was the epitome of ‘better than the numbers’ but whilst the Holden wasn’t as much fun it was still a relaxing car for the trip.
As for fuel, I had thought the second bike rack had added lots to the consumption at motorway speeds, but overall we managed about 28mpg which includes several scoots up and down Alpine Way and general mooching around. Not that much less than the 30mpg for a straight-up coastal cruise to Byron.
Oh, and putting 400bhp through the rear wheels onto damp mountain roads can be a little arse-puckering if not careful
Took MrsPB’s i30 too - there’s only so much you can fit in a wagon, even one this size, and being a family of five means we can find a lot of stuff to take. There are two bikes in the boot as well as the two on the roof, as well as all our clobber. MrsPB and Jnrs 1&2 went in the Hyundai - it was just easier that way!
Stopped off for a pie next to the Big Merino at Goulburn - Pie with a View (of a big ol’ sheep)…
Stayed at a great place almost at Thredbo…
View from the back doors…
Car was of course made for the trip - 500km each way on motorway and A road. But not as capable on the A & B roads as the Subaru we used a few years ago for the same trip. That car was the epitome of ‘better than the numbers’ but whilst the Holden wasn’t as much fun it was still a relaxing car for the trip.
As for fuel, I had thought the second bike rack had added lots to the consumption at motorway speeds, but overall we managed about 28mpg which includes several scoots up and down Alpine Way and general mooching around. Not that much less than the 30mpg for a straight-up coastal cruise to Byron.
Oh, and putting 400bhp through the rear wheels onto damp mountain roads can be a little arse-puckering if not careful
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